MALOLOS CITY – Former President Joseph Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile will be given commendations along with 10 other former senators who rejected the renewal of the United State military bases in the country 20 years ago.
The awarding will be held at the Club Filipino today, in time for the 20th anniversary of the Senate’s decision on September 16, 1991.
The other awardees include former senators Wigberto Tañada, Jovito Salonga, Ernesto Maceda, Aquilino Pimentel, Victor Ziga, Teofisto Guingona, Rene Saguisag, Butch Aquino, Orly Mercado, and the late Sotero Laurel.
“We must always remember them for their contribution to our national sovereignty,” said Red Constantino of the Constantino Foundation.
He said that the 12 senators voted against the retention of US military Bases in Zambales and Pampanga in 1991.
The said military bases namely, Subic Bay and Clark Field, have been converted into freeport zones.
Constantino said, if the 12 senators did not make a stand against the US bases in 1991, the country will never see the fruit of sovereignty.
He said that as of last year, the former US military bases earned over $50-billion in revenues, compared to the promised $200-million annual assistance of the US to the Philippines.
He added that thousands of Filipinos can now freely roam Subic Bay and Clark as tourists and visitors, unlike before.
Earlier, Felicito Payumo, chair of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), said that over 120,000 Filipino workers are now employed in the two freeports and more will be employed outside.
This is due to investments that spilled over outside the two major freeports since the opening of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway that links them and the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.
Payumo disclosed that a Laguna-based solar power manufacturer mulls establishing a plant at the Bataan Technology Park in Morong town.
The Bataan Technology Park is just outside the Subic Bay Freeport; and about 30 minutes drive from the Clark Freeport via SCTEX.
Payumo said that another company that manufactures electronics recently held a ground-breaking activity at the nearby Hermosa town, also in Bataan province.
He said the investments will generate more than 3,000 job opportunities.
“There are others that expressed interest in establishing plants in Porac-Floridablanca area, and at near Hacienda Luisita,” Payumo said.
He added that converting Subic Bay and Clark Field into freeport zones has become a model for other countries.
“As far as conversion of former military bases, ours has become a model throughout the world,” Payumo said.
He also said that there are former military bases within the United States that were converted into industrial areas, but failed.
As major US military bases, Subic Bay served the naval forces of the United States, while the former Clark Field was used as an airbase.
Both military bases were abandoned by the United States in 1991 when Mount Pinatubo erupted.
But the Philippine government converted it into freeports and linked with the SCTEX in the hope that both will become international logistics hub in Asia.
